Lint catcher



Jan. 6, 197% WGNANELU 3,487,624

LINT CATCHER Filed Aug. 6, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /0 Fig. A

Fig. 2

Gem/d Tignan el/i 1N VEN TOR.

Jan. 6, 1970 G. TEGNANELL! 3,487,624

LINT CATCHER Filled Aug. 6, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig .3

66 h I 52 ,64 65 63 ll) $0 54 my 1 62 33 Gra/d Tignane/li INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,487,624 LINT CATCHER Gerald Tignanelli, 1099 Miller Ave., San Jose, Calif. 95129 Filed Aug. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 750,618 Int. Cl. B01d 46/12 US. Cl. 55-482 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A filter unit for use in conjunction with a clothes dryer to filter out all lint or other foreign material carried out of the dryer exhaust vent. The filtration is accomplished in two steps by two separate filters thereby insuring removal of all lint carried out of the exhaust vent by the exhaust air.

In the well known clothes dryer, air is heated by either electric or gas and circulated through a drum wherein damp clothes are rotatably confined. The drying and tumbling of the clothes frees a quantity of lint from the clothes which is carried out of the dryer unit via the exhaust vent. Heretofore, the lint carried out by the warm air would be deposited in the room where the dryer was located, or wherever the exhaust air was ducted. Subsequently, screen type filters were incorporated in the dryer units providing some improvement over no filter at all, but, did not remove all of the lint thus leaving the basic problem of lint being carried out by the exhausting air from the dryer.

The present invention relates to a lint collector that receives the exhaust air from the dryer and in two separate stages therein removes substantially all of the lint so that the air exhausting from the lint collector may be safely vented into either the room where the dryer is located or exteriorly of the room without fear of depositing lint thereby. Thus, the fire hazard created by the highly volatile dry lint is removed.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the subject lint remover installed in conjunction with a conventional dryer.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the subject lint collector.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the subject lint collector.

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the lint remover in place on the back of a dryer.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral generally designates a conventional dryer and the numeral 12 generally designates the subject lint collector. The lint col lector 12 has a lower or base section 14 which is in the form of a five-sided rectangular box with the top thereof open. The open top of the base section 14 is closed by a five-sided rectangular box shaped lid with the bottom thereof open that fits over the open top of the base. The base section 14 has a bottom member 18 with a front side 20 and a rear side 22 attached along the elongated edges of the rectangular bottom 18. An end section 24 of the base section is attached along the width of the rectangular bottom member 18 and joins the front and rear sides therebetween, while similarly an end section 26 connected at the other end of the rectangular base has an opening 28 therethrough. The opening 28 communicates with and has attached on the exterior thereof a flange 30 which is the inlet to the lint collector wherein the exhaust from the dryer is received. To facilitate the ducting of the exhaust air from the dryer to the lint collector a conventional spiral wound flexible hose 32 is connected to the dryer 10 and fits around the flange 30 to duct the exhaust air therein. Four abutments 34 are located at the corners of the four sides of the base section near the top thereof to provide a support for a filter element 36. The filter element 36 is of the conventional rigid rectangular frame with the filter element therein, which may be of the permanent washable type or of the disposable type.

The lid structure 16 has a top plate 38 with an opening 40 therethrough, with the dimensions of the top plate 38 being substantially the same as those of the bottom member 18 of the base section. The depending ends 42 and sides 44 have their exterior surfaces coplanar with the corresponding surface of the base section. The depending ends and sides, 42 and 44 respectively, are made of a thicker material than the corresponding sections of the base so that a shoulder 46 will be formed on the depending side to fit on top of the upper edge of the base section with a depending portion 48 extending down along the inside of the inner surface of the base section. The depending portion 48 is sufiiciently long to engage the rectangular frame of the filter element 36 and securely confine the filter between the abutments 34 and the depending elements 48. Any convenient latching means may be provided, such as the trunk type latches 50, to secure the lid to the base in sealing airtight relationship. The filter element 36 provides the first filtering element for the air entering the lint trap and should normally restrain substantially all of the lint entering the lint trap.

A secondary filter assembly 52 is attached to the top plate 38 of the lint collector to insure that all lint coming into the filter trap is removed from the exhaust air passing therethrough. The secondary filter assembly has a main cylindrical housing 54 with a smaller outside diameter depending portion 56 which forms a shoulder 58 therebetween. The outside diameter of the depending portion 56 is sized to fit snugly within the opening 40 in the top plate with the shoulder 58 engaging the top surface thereof. The main housing 54 can therefore be easily attached to the top plate 38 in a suitable manner depending upon the material from which the unit is fabricated. The main cylindrical housing 54 has a counterbore 60 at the top opening thereof which forms a shoulder 62 at the bottom thereof. This counterbore serves as a container for a cylindrical filter element 64 which fits snugly into the circumference of the counterbore and whose top surface is coplanar with the top surface of the main cylindrical housing 54. A cylindrical section 66 of the same size and diameter of the main cylindrical housing is adapted to engage the top surface thereof to clamp the filter element 64 therebetween and also to provide a convenient attaching point for an exhaust duct which might be employed if the exhaust air therefrom is desired to be ducted away from or outside of the room within which the dryer is located. The cylindrical section 66 is fastened to the main cylindrical housing in any convenient, quick-disconnect manner such as the aforementioned trunk-type latches employed on the lower section. These trunk-type latches 68 would be attached degrees apart on the junction of the cylindrical section and the main cylindrical base to insure even pressure and an airtight seal therearound.

While the lint trap as disclosed herein is stable, due to the rectangular configuration of the base, some means may. be provided to facilitate the installation of the device near a dryer. To accomplish this four permanent magnets 70 can be attached to the rear side 22 of the base section near the corners thereof. Thus, since the housing and structure of the average dryer are of metal, the permanent magnets will support the lint trap structure thereagainst. While the aforementioned magnets have been set forth as a convenient mounting means, it is obvious that a wall-type mounting could be provided to mount the lint trap unit near the through-wall connection if an exterior vent is to be provided. The material used in the construction of the lint trap could most economically and conveniently be of a molded heat-resistant plastic or nylon, with sheet metal or other sheet material being an obvious alternative choice.

In operation the lint trap would come as a single unit that would be conveniently attached to the dryer exhaust vent by means of a spiral wound flexible hose 32 which would be connected to the inlet flange 30 of the lint trap. The exhaust air from the dryer would then be ducted into the base section 14 below the filter 36. The rectangular cross-sectional area of the lint trap allows a far greater filter area to be exposed to the exhaust of the dryer, thereby extending the periods between cleaning of the filter. Further, the second filter element 64 insures that any lint that may have gotten past the primary filter element 36 will be trapped thereby. If desired, the second filter element 64 can be of a smaller mesh or particle entrapping size so as to insure that any lint small enough to have gotten past the first element will be trapped therein. The quick-disconnect latching of the lid to the base section and the upper cylindrical section to the main cylindrical section provides for ease of cleaning of the filters when such is necessary. As can be seen from the construction of the lint trap maintenance will be relatively simple or non-existent as there are no parts to wear or break. Also, the rectangular section of the base section can be chosen so as to accommodate any of the commonly available rectangular filters, with a choice being available as to the disposable or the reusable type. Also, the installation of the device would involve no more than the attaching of hoses onto appropriate flanges with the colors of the hoses and the lint trap itself being chosen, if desired, to coincide with decorator schemes or appliance colors.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A lint trap comprising an enclosure having a base and walls extending upwardy therefrom to form a chamber with an open end opposite the base, support means secured to the walls within said chamber and located below the open end, a first filter supported by said support means, said filter being of a thickness to extend within the chamber a certain distance away from said open end, and extending transversely of said chamber to completely cover the open end, a second enclosure comprising an open end portion and walls extending therefrom including a top wall to form a second chamber with an open end, the peripheral surface of the walls at the open end being complementary to the open end of the chamber of the first enclosure and sealing extending therein substantially the said certain distance to hold the filter in place, means for detachably securing together said first and second enclosures, an outlet opening in the tOp wall of said second enclosure, a first open ended hollow member longitudinally aligned with said outlet opening and supported by the top wall, a second filter supported within said hollow member adjacent the open end thereof remote from said outlet opening, a second hollow member superimposed on said first hollow member and said second filter therein, means for detachably securing said hollow members together, and an inlet opening into said first enclosure wall below said first filter adapted to receive lint laden air for passage through said communicating enclosure chambers and said hollow members and thereby trap the major portion of lint in said first enclosure and the remainder in the second filter.

2. The lint trap of claim 1 wherein the enclosures are of rectangular cross section.

3. The lint trap of claim 1 wherein the first hollow member extends within the outlet opening and a portion thereof projects into the interior of the second enclosure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 956,450 4/1910 Thurman 503 1,455,117 5/1923 McClelland 55429 2,402,140 6/1946 Heintzelman 55482 2,509,300 5/ 1950 Hendrickson 34-82 2,768,707 10/1956 Campbell 55429 2,825,148 3/1958 Olson 34-85 3,046,718 7/1962 Ide et al. 55470 3,087,849 4/1963 Smith 210-445 3,365,864 1/1968 IiZima L 55472 3,383,839 5/1968 Hintermaier 55503 3,423,906 1/1969 Fried 55473 HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner BERNARD NOZICK, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

